Chapter 68 The only thing the adopted son can’t do is to hit on her

"I don't know if the ghost story is true or not." Xiu Yu touched Xuanye's forehead and said, "It's still a little hot. You should rest for a while. I won't leave either. I'll stay here until your fever subsides."

Xuanye, supported by Xiuyu, lay down again, his brows still slightly furrowed. "Niu Hulu Yanlan, she has tried to harm you time and time again, you should know that."

Xiu Yu leaned against the headboard, holding Xuanye's hand in hers, and simply said, "The Empress is no longer with us. There's no need to talk about the past."

"Yes, she is no longer here." Xuanye raised his left and right hands and tapped his forehead. "Do you think I am a ruthless emperor?"

Xuanye asked softly, but he didn't want to hear Xiu Yu's answer. As an emperor, one should use ruthless means. Even if it is wrong, it is right. This is the authority of the emperor.

Xiu Yu closed her eyes and said softly, "Go to sleep. Once you fall asleep, you won't think about it anymore."

On the fifth day after Nianhulu's death, Xuanye was finally able to get out of bed. When he arrived at Kunning Palace, Xiaozhuang was standing beside the coffin, looking at the empress lying inside, still looking very much alive.

Xuanye walked up to Xiaozhuang and said, "Madam, why are you here?"

"Are you safe?" Xiaozhuang looked back at Xuanye.

Xuanye nodded, then waved away the palace maids and eunuchs who were serving beside him. Liang Jiugong also retreated at his signal.

Xiaozhuang was supported by Xuanye and sat down beside him. Then he said, "Xuanye, the Niuhulu family needs an explanation. You know this better than anyone else."

Xuanye sat down beside Xiaozhuang. He cupped his right fist, covered his mouth, coughed, and said, "Madam, I will give Nianhulu the dignity she deserves. Nothing that should be recorded in history books will be omitted."

Xiaozhuang nodded, looked at the coffin again, and finally let out a sigh.

The daughter of the Nianhulu family, who had been sent to the palace as empress, died shortly after becoming her new queen. This fact was a source of much discussion among the women of the previous dynasty and the capital. The empress was not a weakling, so how could she have died so suddenly? What was the hidden secret behind this? All sorts of speculations arose, and there was nothing they could not guess, except for Xuanye.

However, nothing could compare to the prayer Xuanye personally wrote for the empress, nor could it compare to the favor he bestowed upon the Nianhulu family. All speculation vanished as Nianhulu's coffin was carried into Jingling.

Of course, it can't be said that it has completely disappeared. At least the concubines in Xuanye's harem were somewhat aware of the Queen's death. Before this, they always felt that the Emperor was extremely kind to the harem, favoring this one and rewarding that one. Even if someone did something out of line, the Emperor would turn a blind eye out of his past friendship.

However, the death of the Empress made some wise people re-examine the current Emperor. It turned out that he was not as kind as he seemed on the surface. He also had a temper. The methods he used in the previous dynasty could also be used in the harem, and even more so.

In Chengqian Palace, Tong Jia Zifu said to Madam Tong who had come to pay her respects, "Mother, I don't care what those imperial officials outside the palace are gossiping about, but you must not get involved. You don't know what kind of person my cousin is."

Mrs. Tong drank her tea and said, "My daughter, if mother doesn't want to tell her outside, why don't you tell her?"

Tong Jia Zi Fu snorted and laughed: "How about you go home and ask Father? Just tell him that you came to the palace to ask me this, and see what Father says?"

"Mother, why don't you just stop asking?" Madam Tong saw that she and her daughter were the only ones in the warm room. She took a teacup and sat down opposite her daughter. She said, "Zi Fu, now that the Central Palace is empty again, do you have any thoughts? Move from Chengqian Palace to the Central Palace?"

Tong Jia Zifu leaned forward and said to her mother, "The late Empress moved from Chengqian Palace to Kunning Palace, and now they have moved to Changrui Mountain. I, your daughter, am currently living in Chengqian Palace. Do you really want me to follow in the late Empress' footsteps?"

"Pah, pah, pah!" Madam Tong spat several times: "You are the emperor's cousin, but our Tonggiya clan is different now."

"Please put your tail away quickly." Tong Jia Zifu seemed to have seen Madam Tong's tail standing up. "The richer you are, the more you should know how to restrain yourself. When the water is full, it overflows; when the moon is full, it wanes. Father, you understand this! Why are you still talking to me about this?"

Madam Tong pondered for a moment and said, "Let's not talk about this. Why is there no movement in your belly? You have to give birth to a prince for the emperor as soon as possible. This is the most important thing!"

"Here we go again!" Tong Jia Zifu curled her lips. "Mother, if you're greedy for food in my small kitchen, I'll let you eat here. If you're not greedy today, you'd better leave the palace early, otherwise it will be late and my father will be worried."

"Every time we talk about this, you change the subject!" Madam Tong said, feeling rather disappointed. "These medicinal herbs..." She pointed at the pile of paper bags on the couch. "Mother always brings you a bunch every time she goes to the palace. Where do you drink them all?"

Tong Jia Zifu was overwhelmed by what she heard. "If you find it troublesome, don't bring it next time. I really don't have anywhere to put it."

"You!" Madam Tong slapped Tong Jia Zifu's hand heavily. "Apart from anything else, and not for the sake of our family, don't you want to experience what it's like to be a mother? Honestly, from all the princes in the harem who are already born or about to be born, just take any one and bring him to your palace to raise. I'm really saying this for your own good!"

Tong Jia Zifu responded, "Of course, my daughter knows this too. I'll discuss this with my cousin later."

Seeing that her daughter was finally willing to listen to her for once, Madam Tong felt somewhat satisfied. "Actually, someone else's child is still someone else's. Even if you raise them from childhood, it's not your blood that's shed. It's still a little different from your own child. Didn't you ask the imperial physician?"

"Mother, please stop talking." Tong Jia Zifu started acting like a little girl. "If you keep talking, I'll tell my cousin that you're not allowed to enter the palace anymore."

"Okay, okay, okay! It's all in vain." Mrs. Tong slapped her thigh and decided not to waste any more time arguing with her daughter who was so stubborn.

At night, after seeing off Mrs. Tong, Tong Jia Zi Fu was ready to welcome Xuanye again.

She bowed and said, "Hello, cousin. My mother just left and you're here."

As Xuanye walked inside, he said, "I haven't been here for a while. I came to see you. If I had known your mother would come today, I would have come tomorrow."

"My mother is your aunt after all." Tong Jia Zifu and Xuanye sat down on either side of the tea table and pushed the dried fruits on the table towards Xuanye. "My mother came to me today and told me something. I think we can discuss it with you."

Xuanye took a sip of tea before picking up a cashew nut from the plate and eating one. He said, "Tell me about it."

Tong Jia Zifu said: "My mother hopes that I can have a child. So cousin..."

Xuanye's face showed some embarrassment: "Zi Fu, I showed you the book by Tomafa."

"I know, please don't misunderstand." Tong Jia Zifu clasped her hands together, looked at Xuanye, and said, "Look, your Concubine Yi is about to give birth, right? Or..."

"You want to raise Xiuyu's child?" Xuanye was still surprised: "It's not good..."

Tong Jia Zifu lowered her eyelids and said deliberately, "I knew that Concubine Yi is my cousin's favorite. It's useless to mention her."

"I know you don't dislike Xiu Yu, and you might even be a bit sympathetic to her." Xuanye reasoned with her and appealed to her emotions: "After all, this is her first child."

Tong Jia Zifu nodded and said, "I can choose not to raise Yipin's child, but cousin, you have to be clear-headed. We in the harem all want to raise our own children. Instead of sending her to another palace after she is born, why not send her to my Chengqian Palace?"

"She's not carrying a prince this time." Xuanye said firmly, "I've privately consulted the imperial physician, and she's pregnant with a princess."

Tong Jia Zifu looked at Xuanye's cheerful expression and almost rolled her eyes: "Princess, are you so happy too?"

"Whether she looks like me or Yu'er, she will be a beautiful little princess." Xuanye was very confident.

"Alright." Tong Jia Zifu folded her hands on her lap, still a little unwilling: "Cousin, just find a way for me to raise a child for fun. I promise to take good care of him and raise him into a very outstanding prince."

"You want to be my cheap mother so badly?" Xuanye didn't know what kind of magic potion Madam Tong had given Tong Jia Zifu. Seeing her attitude today, she seemed determined not to give up until she achieved her goal. "How about this, no matter who is in the other palaces outside Yikun Palace, as long as they give birth to a prince, I will bring him to your palace to raise him. Are you happy with that?"

"Cousin, you are the emperor, and you cannot change your words." Tong Jia Zifu was happy. She probably couldn't experience the joy of love in her quilt, but it was still good to have a child to raise and let him experience how to be a mother.

Xuanye nodded and said, "Don't worry, what my cousin has said will not change."

"Then cousin, you have to treat everyone equally." Tong Jia Zifu deliberately teased: "If all the princes in the future are born to your Yipin, and I can't get one, I won't agree."

Xuanye was completely at a loss as to what to do with his cousin: "You are the Imperial Concubine after all, and now the most important person in the harem. If you behave like this every day, how will the other people in the palace feel about you?"

"I'm the emperor's cousin, I'm not afraid." Tong Jia Zifu said with a look of 'taking advantage of one's power': "Besides, as long as I don't touch your precious bump, what do you want? Will you give it to me?"

"I've really spoiled you." Xuanye shook his head helplessly. "I'll have to go talk to my uncle later to see what kind of overbearing daughter he has raised."

"Am I overbearing?" Tong Jia Zifu raised her pretty face. "If I were really overbearing, I would stay with you tonight. I wouldn't sleep at all and I wouldn't let you run to Yikun Palace!"